By Kenneth Miller, Publisher
Michael Grimble is as much a fixture on the Inglewood High School campus as any star athlete or administrator.
There isn’t any event that occurs without his approval or signature, that’s because Grimble serves as the Sentinels athletic director overseeing the sports program for the Inglewood Unified School District campus.
So, when Grimble was spotted at Pasadena City College wearing a black sweat shirt with Westchester Comets emblazoned across the chest it was as odd as a taco at In-N-Out Burger, but Grimble had a necessary appetite for being there.
His daughter Anyse Grimble is the starting center for the girls dominant Los Angeles City basketball team that will be playing for the Open Division Championship on Feb. 25 at Pasadena City College against Granada Hills Charter at 5p.m.
Anyse (pronounced Anize) is instrumental in the Comets 28-1 record on the best Westchester team in the school history.
While she as quite popular at Westchester Anyse is also quite familiar on the Inglewood campus having been seen regularly, but also have attended middle school with many of the students who attend Inglewood.
“Westchester is where I want to be. Since my freshman year it has always felt like a family. I feel excited and I am ready to win it all,” Anyse said.
She credits her father for the success that she has enjoyed as a player and also says that he is most responsible for where she is today.
“He’s been a big influence. He helped me do everything from training with different coaches, pushing me to do better to become a better center, better student, education, sports wise. He is just an all-around great dad.”
Anyse has already been accepted to 10 colleges included among them are HBCU’s Howard and Southern.
Grimble explained how difficult it is being a girl dad.
“It’s hard because you want to push them like a boy, and me being the AD at Inglewood I see the teams and I want to push and push, but I have to realize that when she’s off the court she’ my daughter. On the court I tell her all the time that it’s a sport so I am going to push you hard, that the part that I am embracing that she’s taking it although I am pushing her hard. But when we are off the court, we clown and joke. It’s not easy being a girl dad, but I support her,” dad explained.
He added that the biggest thing for any girl dad is to support your daughter no matter what they are doing.
Because Anyse parents prioritized academics over sports she has maintained a 4.0 grade point average.
Asked why he did not enroll his daughter at Inglewood, he said that he wanted her to go to a school where she wanted to be at and allowed for her to make the decision on her final journey to college.
Aynse is an Inglewood product she went to Hellen Keller Elementary and Crozier Middle School.
She credits her experience at the IUSD schools for preparing her academically and she also got her start in basketball at Crozier, thus her foundation has set her out on a path for being sized for a championship ring.
